Twins outfielder shows you what happens when a bat flip goes wrong

The Minnesota Twins nearly got hit a few times Sunday. Benches cleared twice during the contest, but no punches were thrown. The closest anyone came to getting hurt was outfielder Eddie Rosario, who was nearly smacked in the face by his own bat.

Rosario showed baseball players everywhere what happens when a bat flip goes wrong. He found himself dodging out of the way at the last second to make sure his bat didn’t hit him in the head.

Why did Eddie Rosario flip his bat?

In the seventh inning of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Rosario smacked an opposite field single to bring in a run. As he ran to first base, Rosario attempted to flip his bat. It did not go well.

How did Eddie Rosario’s almost hit himself with his bat flip?

While Rosario ran to first, he tried to do a quick bat flip. On replay, it looked like he held the bat in his hand a little too long. Instead of going high in the air, the trajectory of the bat was fast and low. After realizing what he did, Rosario ducked and threw both his hands up to protect his head and face. It wasn’t graceful.

Should Eddie Rosario have flipped his bat?

The people who hate bat flips will not be happy about Rosario doing this on a single with his team down in the seventh. However, the situation played a role in his actions. The Twins entered the inning trailing by three runs. They managed to start a rally, and Rosario came to the plate with two outs. He managed to deliver, knocking in a run to make it 4-2.

It was a good thing Rosario managed to extend the inning. The next batter, Brian Dozier, tied things up with a single. He would come home later in the inning to give the Twins a 5-4 lead.

The Twins and Rays nearly got into two brawls

Shortly after the bat-flip incident, the two teams nearly brawled twice. It was not immediately clear how the first benches-clearing incident started. The second came after Eduardo Escobar struck out, threw his helmet and then apparently gestured at the Rays.

Cooler heads prevailed and no punches were thrown either time. The worst thing to come of it were the taxed bullpens. Relievers had to empty out of the pen and storm the field twice in a short amount of time.

Escobar was eventually ejected for his actions.

Eddie Rosario helped the Twins win the game

Rosario’s actions in the seventh helped the Twins take the lead, but that didn’t last long. The Rays tacked on two runs in the eighth to go ahead 6-5. In the bottom of the eighth, the Twins came roaring back. Joe Mauer tied the game with a walk, and Rosario hit a run-scoring single to put the Twins ahead 7-6.

Twins walk it off in dramatic fashion

Even that lead wouldn’t hold. The Rays scratched across a run to tie things up and send the game to extras. After Rosario was intentionally walked in the bottom of the 10th, Brian Dozier delivered a walk-off grand slam to win the contest 11-7.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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